R13 conference support is requested for the 6th Biennial International Eosinophil Symposium - "Eosinophils 2009", July 7-11, 2009 at the Hotel Crowne Plaza in Bruges, Belgium. These biennial symposia are held under the auspices of the International Eosinophil Society (IES). The meeting will host ~50 invited speakers and ~125 participants who are solicited to submit abstracts for oral presentation or poster sessions by junior scientists. A cutting edge program of basic, translational, and clinical research is being prepared by the Local Organizing Committee in consultation with the International Scientific Advisory Committee, and the Executive Board of the IES. The Symposium provides outstanding opportunities for presentations by junior investigators, and plenary sessions on the most recent advances in this biomedically important, diverse, interdisciplinary and rapidly evolving field. The Symposium features both invited state-of-the-art talks and cutting edge talks by leaders in eosinophil research and allied fields, and pro-con debates, from the perspectives of asthma, allergy, pulmonary, gastrointestinal and parasitic diseases, including the 3rd Paul Ehrlich Lectureship and keynote talks on future directions in eosinophil research. The focus is on both basic eosinophil cellular, molecular and immunobiology integrated with translational and clinical investigations on the roles of eosinophils in normal physiology and disease pathogenesis. Sessions cover asthma, eosinophilic GI diseases, eosinophils in tissue remodeling and fibrosis, new pathogenic aspects of hypereosinophilic syndromes, and old and new anti- eosinophil treatment strategies, and include discussions on applications of basic knowledge in eosinophil biology to drug discovery for eosinophilic diseases. The Symposium is a highly interactive workshop-like forum for both oral and poster presentations of cutting edge research by graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty. Most afternoons are purposefully unscheduled, allowing opportunities for extended scientific discussions, review or development of collaborative projects, and social/recreational activities in and around the conference venue. The Symposium will cover nine major themes: (1) regulation of eosinophil development, functional maturation and death, (2) eosinophil functions - trafficking, activation, and signaling, (3) eosinophils as central players in innate immunity, (4) T cell interactions and the roles of eosinophils in T cell recruitment and activation, (5) cell types sharing characteristics or functional interactions with eosinophils, (6) cytokines, chemokines, and lipid mediators in eosinophil biology and disease, (7) eosinophil-mediated tissue damage, repair, remodeling and fibrosis, (8) eosinophils in parasite infections, allergic inflammation, graft rejection and cancer, and (9) new therapeutic targets for eosinophil-mediated diseases. The central goal of this conference is to provide a highly interactive forum for scientific exchange and collaboration amongst junior and senior scientists in the fields of allergy, immunology, hematology, and cancer as relates to the biology and functions of the eosinophil in normal host physiology in health and pathophysiology in eosinophil-associated disease. - Public Health Significance The purpose of the 6th International Eosinophil Symposium, "Eosinophils 2009", is to provide a venue for scientists and clinician-investigators interested in eosinophils to meet, exchange information and develop collaborations to advance research in the fields of eosinophil biology and the pathogenesis of eosinophil-associated allergic and other diseases. The symposium showcases new research findings related to the production of eosinophils, their trafficking, their effector functions, the use of animal models to explore the importance and role of the eosinophil in health and disease, translational studies of animal model findings into patient-oriented research, and the development of new therapies of eosinophil-associated diseases. Thematic scientific sessions include invited plenary speakers who give state-of-the-art and shorter more focused presentations of ongoing cutting-edge basic, translational and clinical research. Submitted abstracts are presented in poster discussion sessions, and some from junior investigators (predoctoral students and postdoctoral fellows) are selected for cutting edge oral presentations and incorporated into the thematic plenary scientific sessions. Importantly, the program provides significant free time in the afternoons for participants to meet informally for the purpose of discussing science and developing collaborative projects and interactions, a key aspect of these biennial symposia purposely integrated into the scientific agenda and program. By combining both basic scientists and clinician-investigators doing translational and applied research on asthma, allergy, hypereosinophilic syndromes and other eosinophil-associated diseases, the symposium aims to accomplish its objectives of: (1) providing better understanding of the interrelationships between basic eosinophil cellular, molecular and immunobiology and the eosinophil's roles in both normal human physiology and the pathophysiology of these eosinophil- associated diseases, and (2) to foster the development of new research approaches, identification of disease mechanisms and targets for therapeutics, diagnostic tests and treatments that are based on sound basic and clinical science and a full understanding of eosinophil biology and functions in animal models and patients with eosinophil-associated diseases.